The picture is of the side/corner of a cabin at the camp I was at this weekend. The light was late afternoon/early-evening, and really brought out the grain of the wood. It is a simple shot, showing the perception of depth of colors in an essentially monochrome shot.

-Alan Smith

I have been wanting to play with shooting my favorite pair of shades so I finally snapped this little guy real quick on an old bench while at my friends. The glasses are hand made by a little company in Oregon called Shwood. The attention to detail that went into these is just incredible and they are by far my favorite accessory while out in the sun and yes since shooting this photo I snapped the bottom left lens. Where's the best place to get wood glue?!

Before I even knew that the subject matter of this challenge was wood, I spotted this huge bit of driftwood on a beach not far from where I live. (Inverness, Scotland). I really love the texture and colours in the root end of the log, and have had a friend point out bits that look like a child, fish head, dragon/dinosaur head, lion, more than one skull and exposed bones. Sounds a bit morbid, but I just love how everyone who has seen the picture sees something different in the shape of the wood.

The photo was taken on a Panasonic DMC-GF3 with the Vario G 100mm-300mm lens attached, at a focal length of 100mm. f/4.0. ISO was 400. 1/200th of a second exposure.

-Andy Adams

This is a photo of a coffee table I made. Specifically, it is a corner of the table where a leg meets the two rails that hold the glass. I'm kinda proud of the fit which I finished with hand tools. you can see how I made the table, from raw chunks of cherry to a finished piece. http://www.litman.com/ct/coffeetable.html

I used my Canon 5D MKII with the kit lens (24-105), Hand held, ~70mm, 400ISO, f4.0, lit with a incandescent lamp.
I used Photoshop to align, crop, and correct white balance.

-Arie Litman

I used a Nikon d5000 with the nikkor 18-55mm lens that came with the camera, and some kind of extension rings which I'm trying to learn how to use although they aren't powered, so to control the aperture I have to wedge a matchstick at various depths into the whatever its called....I've always wanted to take a picture of this wood piece on my back porch so it seemed like as good a time as any....
5" exposure with rear flash set to 1/32 power, estimated matchaperture about 11 and iso 250 with a glove and snow as a tripod and a hand held led to assist with focusing as auto-focus is nonfunctional with the extension ring in use and it was too dark to see through the viewfinder....

-Brandon Stewart

What I wanted to do for this wood challenge was to focus on woodworking. We have a few old and beautifully worked pieces of furniture so I knew I wanted to find a unique way to use one of them. When I saw the scrolled pillar on one of them I knew I had found my subject. I love how the scroll can represent the immense time and skill it took to create it. I think it also gives the photograph a sense of movement/flow.

Story: I was visiting Julian, California with some friends to see some newly fallen snow. During our walkabout I stopped by an old graveyard and next to one of the tombstones I saw this very old tree stump. It made me sad to see that such an old tree had been chopped down, but was still drawn to the beauty of it's patterns which had been developed over time.

Information: This photo was taken with my Nikon D7000. F-stop at f/20, exposure 1/125, ISO-6400, and a focal length of 70mm.

-Bryndan Bedel

Tube house, (/tong zi lo/ in Chinese) is a tube-shape apartment in Beijing, China. The name came from its layout, long aisle in the middle, rooms on each side. After more than 50 years, the squeaking brick red wood doors still blocking chilling cold wind out for residents.

Ricoh GX100 f2.6 1/30s ISO auto

-Clark Wang

I was out at Meaher State Park along Mobile Bay in Mobile, AL just messing around with some new camera equipment. I was taking long exposures to smooth out the water of the bay using some new ND filters when I had remembered about the shooting challenge. Well the only thing in the park that was wood was the dock. So I set out to capture the sun reflecting off of the dock and the water. The photo was edited for contrast and cropping in Adobe Lightroom 4.

This is a macro photo of some chisel work on a white pine timber that I was doing for a recent wood project. The piece was used as a part of a timber frame table with metal accents.

-Craig Marble

Preface - This photo was shot long ago, but fits the challenge perfectly! This is my first submission, but even if I DQ I had to share...

Setup: iPhone 4 w/ no flash

Story: I had spent the day at the rifle range & discovered this little bit of abstract art after collecting my targets. The focus of the picture is the backstop plywood which has been whittled away by thousands of round of ammunition...in effect, I was "shooting the results of shooting." The layers of plywood created an interesting depth & I was very tempted to take the backstop to put on my wall as a piece of modern art.

-Dan Dickmann

I decided to use color as a way to embellish my wood selection, which was a dead tree in a local park. So I framed the tree up in a way to see the moody full moon on one side and the ambient street light on the other. Then I used a flash just to dig out a bit of detail on the tree.

Nikon d600
24-85 Nikkor @ 68mm
f/9
6 second shutter
200 ISO

-Dan Durakovich

This is a photo of the the top of an end table we have in our living room. It is made of many small, triangular prism-shaped pieces of wood glued together to form a 1 1/2 foot-tall cylinder shape. We have a lot of wooden furniture in our house, so after shooting different objects (kitchen table, magazine holder, staircase), this piece turned out the best.

After taking the ferry to Edmonds, WA I walked along the beach and found this driftwood. I didn't even think about the shooting challenge until I got home. Sony RX100 in P mode: f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO-125. Cropped and colors enhanced in Lightroom.

-David Lee

After taking 60+ pictures of different trees (and trying a bunch of weird compositions), I ended up liking this very simple idea.

For this shot I found a wooden fence and looked for the most interesting spot on it. This is what I came up with.

-Eric Wood

"Nomnomnom" - I came across this log which had very interesting patterns created by bugs. I'm guessing they chewed these tunnels before the bark fell off? After shooting with my Canon, I used Photoshop to correct some levels and then put it through my Afterglow app on my iPhone 5.

While searching for something to shoot for this challenge, I pulled out a piece of firewood from a small pile in my backyard. Funny thing is, my house doesn't have a fire place, nor do I have a fire pit or anything like that. Being that I live in Florida, a fire place or pit, while enjoyable, wouldn't get that much use. This pile of oak was there when we moved in two years ago, and was already dried up and rotting at that point. The underside of this particular log was split and splintered, creating lots of textures and depth in a very small space. The elements had discolored some parts, but left others areas almost untouched. I took a handful of shots from a few angles using various settings. This one was my favorite of the bunch. I ran the image through Photoshop to adjust the exposure and contrast a little, but nothing major.
Shot with my Nikon D3100 with a 18-55mm lens set at 55mm, f/13, 1/100 shutter speed, ISO 100.

-Gabe Loewenberg

All You Need Is Logs

If Andreas Gursky's Rhine II is worth $4.33 million, then my Logs III must be worth at least $17.50. Like Gursky, I went for a Flag Effect but added a glowing tinge of afternoon sunlight.

Earlier this year, we had cut down a tree which we have been meaning to dispose of. I took three pieces and laid them out and started shooting. All I knew is that I wanted to use the macro lens. The sun was starting to come down and loved the way it affected the look of the logs.

All I did was enhance the photo and added some contrast and a bit of definition.

-Georgina Lawrence

When I first saw the challenge I immediately went outside to the wood pile and shot the most interesting piece using my
craigslisted Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 II. I shot a bunch of other subjects and effects over the weekend ranging from light painting to HDR. It all came back to my original shots. I edited the candidates in RawTherapee then sent the top two to Mom for critique. She loved all of the hidden imagery and textures in the grains of this shot the best. I made an additional crop just before sending it in, resulting in the "inside out" flipping effect.

Canon T4i, EF 50mm 1:1.8, f/4.0, 1/500s ISO 100 Edited in RawTherapee

-Rob Houge

Camera : Olympus E-510
Lens : 14mm-42mm
f/10 1/20sec. ISO-100

The shot is of our coffee table, with a rose in the background. My girlfriend and I just celebrated our 2 year anniversary. The rose was actually given to me along with a cupcake and a card. It was her attempt to try to brighten my spirits after receiving bad news. It just reminds me that I have found the one I cant live without.

-Jack Gebhardt

I study wood oriented furniture design in Sweden.
Lately my experimentations have been into material properties with an emphasis on breaking the wood.
Picture is taken from a piece in progress.
Camera is Canon 350D with a Tamron 90/2,8 macro. f/32 1s
The light on the background is a desktop lamp.

-Jalmari Laihinen

Shot with an iPhone 4S. No filters or post processing.

It was the first beautiful day in several weeks. My daughter and I were in the backyard enjoying the weather and blue sky. I remembered the Shooting Challenge and whipped out my phone to take some pictures. I took pictures of the fence, fallen branches, and some old Adirondack chairs. This end shot of one the chair boards seemed perfect to use as a desktop wallpaper.

-Jared Huguet

Was wandering around in the frigid temperatures looking for interesting subjects to take photos of. Came inside and remembered the contest, and found that I had taken one that qualified. Taken with my iPhone 4.

-Jeffrey Fetterman

Naturally Twisted

Camera: Sony A560
Lens: 50mm Prime F/4
ISO: 200

I'm working on a project this week for a friend who's home resides on a country lane that connects to a state highway. That highway access is being disconnected due to the expansion of Interstate 69 down that segment of the highway. Their lane will be connected to another road further back that in the country side and they will have to drive 5 miles out of their way to get back to the new interstate.

With all this major reconstruction happening in the area she asked me to photograph her family homestead (her parents, uncle, brother and cousin all have homes on the lane). I completed this session and will have 3 others throughout the year, 1 during each season.

This photo is of the interior of a tree behind my friend's house that got twisted up and bent over by a tornado that grazed her house back in the late 90's. The splintered wood just fanned out beautifully on the inside and it looked amazing. I just loved the resulting textures.

-Jeremy Martin

It was a very rainy and foggy Saturday down by the beach and since I dropped my wife off at the salon I decided to go down to the beach to take pictures. After shooting the birds, and the paddle boarders I remembered this week's challenge. The railroad at this point was the location where many of my wedding pictures were taken and so I began to think about the time period which these rail road ties have lived and the different people and occasions they have seen. This is my first challenge so I was happy to use them.

Canon EOS REBEL T3i, f/6.3, 1/125 sec. ISO-100, 18mm

-Jesse Opgenorth

These two were taken with a Canon 5d Mark II. Lens is a Canon 70-200 f2.8 USM, ISO 100

I don't really have much of a story here - I enjoy woodworking (that is hickory on the table saw), and I enjoy photography, so this was a great chance to put the two together!

I didn't want to stop motion on the saw, but I did want to catch some dust being kicked up, and if you look close, you can see a few particles in there. I absolutely love the color and grain on hickory!

-Jim Perry

Shot with a Nikon D5100 with the 18-55mm VR lens at ISO 200, f3.5, 1/640sec. While at the park with my 2 year old daughter i remembered reading about this shooting challenge and decided to get a few shots. The texture of the bark and the way it morphs around the knot really drew my interest.

-Kevin Daniels

I decided to go the macro route for this one. It's the end of a 2x4 I had in my garage. The problem with focusing so closely is depth of field pretty much disappears at any aperture. So this is actually a focus stack of four images representing a total focus change of about 1/8" (maybe less). The large file should be viewed at 100% to fully appreciate it.

To find likely subjects for this challenge, I took a bike ride down a road that parallels the Indian River Lagoon. I knew it would give me no end of options for things made out of weathered wood. I had thought I would end up using a picture of a long abandoned dock until I came across this pelican carving. No doubt, it was originally a nice, if somewhat generic, dock ornament, but weather and time had turned it into something else entirely.

I used GIMP to post process the photo. I leveled the horizon, upped the contrast, and reduced the saturation on the blue side of the spectrum.

-Mike Case

I often see my neighbor, a few blocks over, working on his chainsaw carvings.

This shooting challenge was a great reason to photograph him creating art.

In the short time we were there, he was able to rough cut this owl sculpture. It was amazing to see him pull the shape out as it was difficult to see the owl until he flipped the sculpture around four or five times.

It is very impressive that he has only been chainsaw carving for 3 months and only began because some friends suggested he try it.

Canon 5D Mark II, 135mm, F2.0, 120 sec, ISO 100

-Nate Cantrell

Wooden Skeleton

The initial thought for this challenge was recreating a wooden grain desktop kind of image but after taking a few shots I wanted something a little more exciting so I tried some fire!

The image is a cocktail stick which was burning when I took the image.

Setup is as follows:

Nikkor 105mm micro with 3x kenko extension rings as well as a 2x teleconvertor for the extra reach, all mounted to a Nikon D600.

I just came into possession of this dream lens and was anxious to try it out. The flange focal distance of the 5d2 limits the use of this lens for macro shots. A bonsai exhibit was showing at the Chicago Botanic Garden this weekend and I took the opportunity to test this lens on some perfectly sized subjects. DOF on this lens wide open is razor thin and only comes into focus at about 6 inches. The only way to focus with this lens / camera combination is to move forward and back. A bit difficult to do taking this shot handheld and crouching low for the perspective. Although this shot is perhaps not the best in terms of artistry, it does highlight the dreaminess that this lens is known for.

-Peter Look

This week I thought it'd be nice to get out and about walking and see if I could find some interesting bits of wood or trees to take pictures of to send in. I did just that and got a couple I thought id like to send but then I got back from my walk and stopped off a my friends new house, she showed me around and showed me the garden - that's when I saw this little wooden hanging bird table. I took a few pictures because I like how you can see the texture of the wood through the paint and where the paint has crumbled away over the years its been hanging there to show the underlying pattern of the wood.

We live on a mountain in the woods and we are surrounded by mature trees. When I read this challenge, I immediately thought of the way bark looks in the sun on a tree. There is texture in color when looked at in some detail. I used my "nifty fifty" lens for this shot.

50 mm
f/2.2
1/125 sec
ISO 100

-Rob Huber

Shot with an iPhone 4S.

My husband told me about the Shooting Challenge after he took some pictures. It just so happened that our daughter was playing with a ladybug in the backyard. I set the ladybug free on the fence post and got this shot.

-Sarah Huguet

Hello, Gizmodo! The submitted picture was taken using a Canon 60D with EF-S 18-135mm IS lens at ISO 200 at f/5.
Background: So this photo was actually taken at my local church after Sunday mass. There was this chopped up tree that was tucked away to the side of the church parking lot and after examining the ornate intricacies of the wood, I was inspired to take a few photos just for fun. Still trying to master my Canon, and I'm having a blast in doing so.

-Sim Cataluna

Alright, here goes. This was shot with my new Canon T3i with the 55-250mm kit lens.
The weather since the challenge was announced has been really crappy, so I tried finding something inside the house. Hardwood floors, dining table, cabinets, even my speakers, but nothing was quite doing it for me. On Saturday the fog went away a little bit and as soon as I looked out the window, there it was. The fence in the backyard. I zoomed in from inside the house not expecting anything special, but I really liked how the picture turned out. Only change I made in post was to change it to b&w to show the features of the wood better and remove the distractions the moss was creating.

ISO: 200
f/5.6
1/30 sec

-Sharon Joshi

Being the son of a carpenter I have always had an interest in wood which was probably the main reason behind replacing our lounge furniture with a solid oak set last year. Unfortunately I didn't think just the grain made an interesting enough shot so out came my wooden mannequin from Ikea and et voilà.

I took the shot with my Pentax K-r, Sigma 17-70 lens, f/8, 1/60 sec, ISO 200 with an external flash (inspired by the article featuring David Hobby of the Strobist at the start of the month!) .

-Steve Bayliss

Wood Pile

I stepped out the back door of my Louisville home and started taking pictures of the wooden objects around my patio and back yard. I finally settled on this photo of the wood pile we use for our chiminea. I liked the texture of the saw marks and the hint of green from the moss. The day was cold and sunny with temperatures in the upper 30s. The picture was taken with my Nikon D7000 in aperture-priority mode with the aperture set a f8, which permitted enough depth of field to keep the ends of the logs in focus, since each log was of slightly different length. The ISO was 180 and the exposure length was 1/30. The lens used was a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G. I did minimal post processing in Aperture, upping the saturation and vibrancy settings to help make the moss a bit more prevalent.

-Steve Grider

I used my Samsung Galaxy S2 (f/2.6, ISO-32, no flash/extra lens).
I woke up one morning,after a rainy night, in my army service and at the bench where we all sit together I saw the painted wood shining in the sun, with the raindrops covering it.

I have the luxury of living in Florida. In my front yard, there are two palm trees that adorn the sides of my house. I was grilling some chicken and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to snap some shots. I snapped some laying on the ground and looking up to the sky (great photos, but not really within the definition of the contest). As I was getting up, I noticed the beauty of the "bark" on the tree, especially the way it looks "hairy" close up. I decided on this shot because the angles of the bark and the darker colors within the photo.

-Timothy Goines

Specs: Canon 50d
f/4.5 1/400s
iso 1000
100m 2.8 macro lens

Story: Uncle made a wooden jewelry box for his niece and chose some interesting wood to incorporate. Just purchased the macro lens and tried some shots of the grain. Maple is the wood shown in the picture.

-Tim Price

I'm calling this shot Wood Nebula. I shot this in my wood shop with two 23W 5000 Kelvin CFL lamps and a butcher paper background on 01/26/13.

Besides shooting landscape and the occasional portrait and wildlife, I also like to shoot abstract, or what I lovingly refer to as poster art. Although I didn't on this shot, many of my photographs are single exposure HDR, using first Photoshop, then Photomatix. The subject of this shot was some old growth Fir I had been planing on my Roubo workbench. There are also some shavings from 3/4 inch plywood in the center of the mix.

Generally when I'm shooting abstract, I pick a subject and just shoot. Tight, focused, blurred, etc. When I was processing this set of shots, I immediately saw this one as a Nebula, and so chose it for submission.